Being a small business owner can be tough but chances are you didn’t plan to spend your time dealing with employee differences. Nonetheless, managers, supervisors and business owners need to know how to differentiate between a valid employee problem and general complaining in order to handle the situation before it becomes a bigger problem. Most business owners understand customer satisfaction is a top priority but when it comes to employee complaints, there is often a tendency to minimize the problem. That is often a serious mistake that only leads to larger problems. Instead, take the complaint seriously and search for ways to solve the problem. Take a few steps back and consider employee complaints as valid as customer complaints. Typically employee complaints fall into one of three categories:
- Complaints about co-workers and other employees
- Complaints about the company including quality of product or service
- Complaints about work situations, i.e. pay, hours, duties, etc.
When it comes to settle disputes between co-workers, take time to listen to both employees (separately) and enlist their aid in coming up with a solution. Carefully listen to employees; often you might learn what customers are thinking before something more serious takes place. Obtain all the information you can, form a task-force to solve the issues, put changes in place and reward the employee for bringing the problem to your attention.
Finally, work related problems are often easy to fix. Have written expectations related to salary expectations and job descriptions in place to reduce the incidence of ambiguity and other problems. If you aren’t sure how to establish clearly defined employee handbooks, benefit plans, employment policies and other written documentation call PCG for help. We will be glad to assist your small business establish the full range of documentation needed to keep your business running smoothly and reduce the incidence of employee complaints.
